I’m here again, guys! Sorry for making you wait for a long time (one week is definitely too long for us who has been waiting for the next episode of Haikyuu!!, right?) but I’ve returned to deliver some goodies! With my return, I bring you another exhilarating episode of Haikyuu!! Karasuno Koukou vs Shiratorizawa Gakuen Koukou!

Japanese Original Episode Title: 出会いの化学変化

Plot

The episode starts off with the current third year members’ freshman year – Daichi, Sawamura, and Asahi. It shows just how enthusiastic they are for getting into the Karasuno volleyball team. It also shows how many struggles and hurdles they have to go through to get to where they are.

We finally made it to Karasuno!

Despite getting into the school they have longed for – and the volleyball team they looked up to – it seems that the team is not the same strong team they once thought it was. There is no coach to help out the players. There are no other schools that want to play a practice match with them. All of these stand as obstacles for the team. However, the three of them didn’t lose hope. They started to work twice as hard as before to reach their dream – the nationals.

Episode Highlights

The highlights for this week’s episode focus more on the third year senpai. They show how they change from the fallen crows that they are as they hung in there waiting for a chance that they can grab. Now, with the new team members, it seems that this is the chance that they have promised to grab in their freshman year!

Highlight #1: Tsukki, don’t lose to Hinata!

As the episode is already in the last leg of the fourth set, Tsukki enters the fray as Nishinoya was rotated out. While taking his place though, Yamaguchi shouts to him to not lose to Hinata. Tsukki being Tsukki, he glares at Yamaguchi. In a less tense voice though, he states that they weren’t even competing in the first place.

Highlight #2: New play

Yamaguchi makes up for his inability to score with his serve in his previous play. This time around, he shows something new. Even Tanaka’s sister notices it. He is indeed trying out for the first time in an official match.

Yamaguchi is not the only one who has something new to show in this week’s episode. In fact, Karasuno’s glasses boy also got something to show off – a personal time difference. With Yamaguchi’s serve, blockers’ one-touch, Tanaka’s dig, and Tsukishima’s dig, the Karasuno boys are able to grab a point in the fourth set, scoring them a lead of 23-21. It’s a break!

Highlight #3: A Score from a Failure

It seems that the Karasuno guys are almost reaching their limit – especially Kageyama. That should only be a given, considering that this is the first time that they are playing a five-set match and the game is already at the end of the fourth set. This is the longest time that the team is on court for an official match. To top it all off, they are facing a difficult opponent.

To prove that, Kageyama fails to deliver a ball that lines up with Tsukishima’s spike height. However, that didn’t completely end up in failure. Tsukishima is able to use his left hand to salvage the ball and hit it to the other side.

Highlight #4: The Open Space

In the previous episode, the Karasuno boys may have been able to handle Ushijima’s powerful attacks a little bit by moving one step back. However, in this episode, Shiratorizawa exploits the weakness that this strategy has. Due to that, Ushijima was able to bag a point for Shiratorizawa despite having three blockers right in front of him.

Highlight #5: The Match Point

Even when the Karasuno team is already at a deuce, their match point was taken away from them by none other than the miracle boy himself, Ushijima Wakatoshi. At this point, Karasuno has no other choice but to score another point, since allowing the other team to score means game over. It seems like they are standing at the edge of a cliff now!

Highlight #6: The Sideburns Geezer

There was this old man in the crowd who always come to every Karasuno match. It seems that he is one avid supporter and has always been there even when the Karasuno team got called the fallen champions. Even the older coach Ukai seems to know this old man by face. Moreover, the third year players took note of this man way before, because of the way he dissed the team during their freshman year’s last match.

However, this time around, the old man shows his support for the Karasuno boys in a very loud voice! Will the Karasuno boys deliver this time and meet this avid fan’s expectations?

Themes & Trivia

This week’s episode of the anime series Haikyuu!! has the same title as the 149th chapter of the manga. However, only the third year’s flashback to their freshman year was actually taken from that manga chapter. Another difference between the anime episode and the manga chapter is that the chapter’s setting is right before the match with Shiratorizawa.

On to The Next Episode!

The show is definitely getting more and more exciting. It seems that everyone is finally showing off the aces up their sleeves, one by one. Are there more surprises, new attack patterns, and new techniques that both teams have for us in the next episode? Stay with us here in Manga.Tokyo to know more! See you next week!